Manually propelled farm tractor device



Aug. 19, 1952 A.- LEISAUNIER 2,607,613

MANUALLY FROPELLED FARM TRACTOR DEVICE n K Filed Feb. 1s, 195o z SHEETS-SHEET 1 INI/ENTOR. Alexandre I esounier ATTORNEY 4Po Power 0n TheDriving Aug. 19, 1952 A. LESAUNIER 2,607,513

I MANUALLY PROPELLED FARM TRACTOR DEVICE Filed Feb. 1a, 195o 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 FIG.

OO u 800 Po Power 0n The Driving Pe Power 0n The Driving Chain ChainINVENTOR.

ATTO R NEY Patented Aug. 19, 1952 I UNITED PAT 'y oFFl-.cer

This invention relatesto tractor, devices vand more particularly'jtovmanually'operated tractor devices and Vhasffo'rv its obj ect4 ythevprovision or use 'in the sprocket is amplied foripowervr on the driveWheels'ofv the device andfor speed'on an f in dependently mountedily-Wheel, so as--to mailn-l tain a substantially constant rate5f-rotation of the pedal rotated 'sprocket and af substantiallyconstantflow l of power toftheejdrivef' wheels through each 360 degreesofrotationef {'tl'ieL drive- Spr'dcket, M `l By this arrangementanda-properselection ofl gear reduction Aratios between lthe drive?"andA driven sprockets the flow of--power ffromf the fly-Wheel 'poweradded lillder dition; and

Fig. 8 is-'the power-curve developed With the fly-wheellpower addedunder a third rload condition. f i

As may be noted from Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, thebicycle-powered(tractor device of the present a seccnd loadconir'm'entionA consists of a pedal-actuated, dduble f sprocket. S S'sustained for pedal vrotation ,ony

f r'arnfe'jlof the tractor device.. yThe frontwheel assembly` L is ofcommon'design and forms no part of the instant invention except asV aneces'- saryv partof the combination.

Sprocket S is connected by chain drive means C for driving drivensprocket `D mounted `on drive shaft lB' rotativelv sustained on' frameJ, and for driving through clutches E-E the drive Wheels W- Wfrsustained on the ends of the drive Sprocket Si is operatively connectedby. chain drivemeans C te drive driven sprocketD for rotatingthe ny-w-heels VInf-ifi independently mountedon shaft B also sustainedforrotation on frame J pedal actuated drive-sprocket te-theidrifve wheels?power level normally i'nexcess of'a determined maxim'urnl w'ork- Aloadand smooth' ioperationofl the' tractor devicewith''--the-ffmini-nimmLapplica-l tion lof manpowerlthereb'y'-l may be obtainedl'Before furtherdisclosure Lof* the inventionv lrefe erence 'should' be made Y to y'the; accompanying drawingsvwherein: I' -f Fig. l'is a sideelevationalfview of"v one'specic embodiment of' vthebicycle-powered?'tractor o f'- the present-invention; ff Fig. 2'- is atcpgview' 'of' the! Fig.- 3` isen enlarged vsectional vievvlillustrating they drive 'connection between thedrive meansv aridthe'drive' Wheels ofthe tractor-'devi'c'f Fig; =4 is'acurve-illustratingthefpower capacityA of the device-'jinlseveral"differ-zri-tu positions' (ifE pedalrotationg'! f V 'Fig `5.-is'the power'curveldeveloped in thedevice on 360' rotation of'. thedrive-sprocket without the augmented, power :developed in. therotatingflywheel; i v' Y f L Fig., 6 lisl the power curvedeveloped,ywith. fly-wheel --pOWer addedunder: one load condition; Fig. 7 is thepower curve developed with the same taken "along:

The relative sizes'of the.` drive sprockets Sf-S anddrivenfsprocketsfD-DZ the length` of pedal arms .Q -A', andf theA WeightAand size of ily-V wh'eelfsf F-Ff have been mathematically' selected t'o'profi/ide @Substantially constant flow of pov/ter from the drivesprockets' rothe driven sprocket D fqr uririfngwne'elsjW-w" infcrwarnjarid reverse direction ata 'power level which 'is in excess o the,maximum V `e `stimated load requirements' f the' tractor", device underaverage service" use conditions 4 during each 860 rotation off, 'thepedal-actuated 'sprockets' S-,S*.

211; isi; eneiaiiy recognized that the normaliy expectedgpowerrequirement of atractorfdevice ork soilj of' average garden'qualityshould no tieXceed about 500 poundslv yThe actual power" requirementvaries VWidely'with the nature of the' soil; the' Okind'j'of* tooloperated by ythe tractorf (p1'ovv,' disc; narrow, 'etc.)' the"topography" and the moisturefconditienof the soil,-a's one skilled?vinathe drawings has." been designed tofprmfide-.arI

substantially 1 constant poWer in the Wheels: W-;-W' that; isWell in.excess of thisrfecognizedl average powerrequirement from the ,Weightand;

energy of a Workmanrnf average-weightrand:

To obtain this gresult, pedal Aof pedals P-P each have a lengthapproximating seven times the radius of the drive sprocket S and thediameter of driven sprocket D is approximately seven times the diameterof the drive sprocket S. Drive sprocket S has a diameter seven timesthat of driven sprocket D. Accordingly with each 360 rotation of drivesprockets S-S the driven sprockets D-D will rotate one-seventhrevolution and seven revolutions, respectively. Thus power is appliedAto sprocket D and speed is applied to sprocket D' upon pedal rotation ofdouble sprockets S-S at the same rate and with the same force.

Sprockets S--S' and D-D Vare each provided`- with 14 teeth at a pitchdiameter of 2.247 inches" and the chains C-C are each roller chainshave,

lthe ratio between sprockets S' 4and D with the diameter of `thecircumference made by pedal bein-g of "7 to 1, the power on the chain Cwill be 170 lbs. 7=l190 lbs. or about 1200 lbs. when ,the pedals P-P arein the horizontal position.

ing 1/2 inch pitch. Accordingly, for each'revolu-v y r tion of thesprockets S-S' v`the chain yC travels 14 times the pitch of the chainsor seven inches; At diierent rates of revolution per minute of thesprockets S-S' by pedals P-P the chain C willhave the followingcorresponding speeds: J

, 10.R. P. M. 7 '10=70. or 5'10.

,20 R..'P. M. 7 20=l140. or 1'18" R. P. M. 7 30=`210" or 171/2 TheAwheels W-W of the tractor are designed to' be 1/3 larger than thesprocket D. f The speed of the tractor therefore will be 1A; more thanthe speed 'of chain C. The speed of the tractorV at the above speciiiedrates of revolutions per min-A`v ute of the-sprockets S-'S will be asfollows: l

sprocket D, sufficient power is initially available from the drivesprockets SS. Y j' 'j TheI energy ldeveloped in the rotating ily-Vwheels` F-'F" rotating at' between -1'40`1tof175 R.. P." M; can be usedas "apower take-QE `for running a cutter bar or aflawn mower, ifdesired.

For starting andreversing theV tractor device of the present invention'a' means .is pro" vided for delaying engagement/of v the driven shaftwith the vwheels W W"unt'ilfmaxim1un' power is available for moving thesame.` j

l' A'sshown in enlargedA viewFig. 3, a'keyllKAI is provided on'the shaftofeach of the tractor. wheels ,W-W'v and the drive shaft rotated by thedriven sprocket D is provided with Ialkey K'..

The wheels W-W cannot rotatefin eithlrdirection until the key -K'frisrotated to a position where itengages with the'fkey K. Tl'ii's requiresvd Yor A7 revolutionsof the drive sprockets jS-V-S during whichtheHfl'y-wl'leels 'F-LFY are being-r0- tated ata high speed tobuildl upenergy amplifying Athe power on; thev driven sprocket. D.- .Theily-wheels F-F normally are rotated more than l0/revolutions by the'time the keys .K-@Kf are rotatedinto engaging position and themomentumvof the ily-,wheels F-F plus the power com-- ing from the weight of ntheoperator-acting now., on the driving chain C will provide there/quiredtractorl into' vmaximum power for vstarting the forward or reversemotion. The partioularsize and weight of the-ily- When pedals P-l are inthe vertical position vthe pull' power on the chain C will be zero. The

. power onrchain C will be 1% of the maximum While the power on thetractor wheels -W-"W will also be reduced by 1/3, due to the-increase inthe sizeof the wheels W-W over that of thev power, that is 900 lbs.,when the lever arm A-JA of r.the pedals P/-P vare in position OD (about3401 OH). At this'moment the arins A-{A will be in the position OC (onthe curve of Fig. 5),YC being at an equal distance between H and V1, andtheangle HOC will be 45 (this is not exactly correct when C is at halfdistan'c'elbetweenl and V1, OD equals one-half of the side lofthesquarev inscribed in the circle, that is exactly or very close to 3A).When 'the arms A-`A' of the pedals AP--P are at C,vhalf the distancebetween H and V1, the power on the chain C is close tog/0f 12,00ibs'orabout 90o 110s. Y, ,A v-,When the lever arms A-A lof the pedalsP-P' are in o-D1 orali ofolHi, the power is'A half vof 12.070 -v lbs.or.600 lbs.; triangle `I-I'OC is equilateral, angle HOC.;60 orof 90", C?is at, Cl is still half of the maximum.

If'thefcircumference. ofthe circle of is divided kin 112 parts andthesaid' parts are put on a horizontal line, and the power is indicated onthevvertical atl each point, we ,will obtain the power curve-shownintFig. 5. vThis curve representsthe power onthe chain C in oneIcomplete revolutionv,of the I drive sprocketsv S-SQ when thefly-,v'fneelsF-:Ff arerconsidered non-existent..

It isohvius ,mathe power working on a. @hai-n and @shaft-.running at;10Wv speed nulstihaveV aA poor emcency.; with a great Dart of.the-'power being Aexcess at certain times-and; withno,v

reserva-power availablewhen the power is; zero.

A fijlyL-.wheel vmounted on the driving shaft-asheretof-ore employed,runningat the vsamedow speedfas the shaftwouldj have very Ylittle effectin correcting the variable' power on rch-ainjC.I However, by mountingthe lyewheels F-F' on a;

separatev shaft and,I operatively, c :\n nee ti ng Yl the same to thesprockets SS for high speedrota-r,V

tionf-theenersy of the ywheels is available for increasing .the emciencyof, ythe. system as. the; powery fallStQ Zeroa This isthe essential:me:A

chanicali principle -of; the; present invention, Vthe ily-wheels F-F'.-mounted on a'separate shaft B' and operatively connected by chainlC.for-i111;

dependent high speed rotation to build upenergy overcoming:V the zeropower positions of the pedale actuated double sprockets'S-'=-'-,S..l

The effect of the ily-wheels Fg-F'on the'po'wrcur-ve 'shown in' thecurve of Fig. 5 isindioated in Ffigs; '7l undeif j threelassumed operating 2/3 between Hv andy Vlrand the power on chain` ator.

anomala conditions'. :Inv thecurves .of..F.igs... 6, 7 .and it .must beirecognized thatthe power onf the driving chainyC is 1/3.y higherj`than-thep'ower onfthe tractor-wheelsJW-WQ because'the diameterl ofthe.tractorwh'eels istv 1/3 more than the diameter ofthe drivenfsprocket Dand that `this loss in power is compensatediorbya corresponding. gain inspeed. of '1/3.v on the wheels-W-W. .Where Pc .equals the'. power.- onthe driving 4If Pg equalsthe power for working the ground (estimatedbefore around j 300' lbs.)- and" Pt equals the power vfor Idriving'the'tractor alonev (estimated before rat around 100 lbs.) "then Pw equalsPg+1r=c=-3oo+1o0=4co lbs. Y j "Referring now to the curve Fig'.4 6, the`power necessary to do a certainwork is 400' lbs.(300 lbs. for the workon' the ground, 100 "lbsl for running the^ tractor alone' making aVpowerr of 400l lbs. on'l thetractor'wheels). llfnder the' conditionsgiven above the power onthe driving chain equalsl 600 lbs.A In'this casethe'jpower will be represented by lineM--M parallel to the horizontalYzero line at 6004400 lbs. and the curve indicates the power available atvevery point of the circumference described by pedals P-P diuring therotation of sprockets S-S'f by the oper- As described abovethefly-wheels' F-F are rotated .more than 40 revolutions before thekeyKon thedriving shaft comes in contactwith tlekey Kff'on the hub of thedrivingwheels WLW, and the momentum of "the fly-wheels furnish therequired'additional power for starting the tractor device in forward orreverse motion. If it be supposed that the. pedals. V1251-1? are at deadcenter at the top and-bottom (positions I2 and 6 of the curve of Fig. 4)at this moment no power is being furnished from the pedals and all thepower for running the tractor will come from the y-wheels F--F' untilthe pedals P-P move beyond this position. The power from the pedals P-Pthen builds up to a peak power which is in excess of the power requiredfor running the tractor in opposition to the xed load of 400 lbs. andthe ily-Wheels F-F' will absorb this excess of power as this excesspower gradually increases until the pedal position 3 is reached. Thisexcess power will decrease after the pedal passes position 3 untilposition 6 is reached. yThe curve II of Fig. 6 below the zero line willbe symmetrical to the curve I above the M--M line over the other half ofthe 360 angle of rotation of pedals P-P.

The power from the pedals P--P being less than the power required forrunning the tractor between positions and 6, the momentum of they-wheels F-F will now supplement the power on the pedals P-P until pedalrotation has carried the pedals P-P to a position where the other footof the operator can take over to move the upper pedals P-P from I2 to 6.

Thus it can be seen that the absorption of power in fly-wheels F-F isdone between pedal positions l and 5, 1 and Il, and power supplementingis done between pedal positions 5 and 1, Il and I. Accordingly thefly-wheels F-F 62? absorbA mo're'power intaof the pedal revolution, thanthey deliver'in 3/12' ofthefpedali revolutionl In practice, thely-wh'eels-F-Ef should restore the same amount of power absorbed` (iftheiefliciency ofthe enginev is 100%).'andthe curve between pedalpositions 5 andfl sl'io'uldfbe higher thanshown inucurve sectionIII-i-nlig.v 6. In fact, having to supply: power in-hal'f the' time thepower is absorbed, this powerA available- I in fly-wheels iF-1""A shouldbe double thatrequired for this-halftime for smooth operation..A E ifReferring nowv to the curve of Fig. 7',Lth'e; power necessary' to do avcertairrpiece ofi Wo'rk i'swassumed tol be 500 lbs; (400 lbs,- for'theworkor the ground and 100 lbs'. for running the tractor alone makingaftotal of 500 lbs.) on the tractor wheel or 750 lbs. on the drivingchain where-'the weight ofthe operator isV 170.1bs. andthe drivereduction-is Tte 1 as assumed in thev example-of AUnderthese conditionshorizontal line Ml'-M now shown raised tothelevel 50G-'750. -Th'e pointswhere curve -II willy cross the zeroline (0) correspondingrto theintersection of M--M with curve I, are found asl before given. The

f pedals-fPl-P' but the speed will'be reduced.` When the resistance ofthe ground or the load' 'de'- creases; the speed of they tractor willincrease until normal speed is lreached forl the powerrequired for'theload encountered. I 'j -v Referring now tol-the curve of Fig. 82 thepowe necessaryto do a certain work is assumed tobev less thanlO'lbs. fThi'siis the normal-expectedl'oad condition aty which'the tractor willgenerallyfrun. This' normal load condition'is estimatediat 'aroundrunning the tractor itself) -making aftotal`A off 350 lbs. Curve II isobtained from curve I by the same process as above described and lineM-M is located at S50-525 lbs. The absorption of power by the flywheelF-F is much greater than shown in the curve of Fig. 6, and powerabsorption initiates before the pedals move to positions I and F andfinishes after the pedals are moved to positions 5 and Il. The period ofpower restoration is represented` by curve section III, having a peakwell above the maximum power of G-1200 lbs. As in the curve of Fig. 6.but with more amplification, the restoration of the excess power by they-wheels F-F will permit the speed of the tractor to be materiallyincreased.

In all of these assumed conditions representedV by the curves of Figs. 6to 8, the efliciency of the tractor in the transmission of power ispresumed to be 100%. It is evident that this efficiency will depend onthe mounting of the chains, gears, roller bearings and on themaintenance of these parts in clean condition. All these parts shouldrun in oil in a completely enclosed box so that an eciency of or morecan be expected, as one skilled in the art will recognize.

Asindicated in the above disclosure, by means of independently mountedy-wheels F-F operatively connected to the doulble drive sprocket SS forrotation at a relatively high speed with pedal rotation of the sprocketsS-S, the rotation of driven sprocketiD at'low speed under load con'-ditions is smoothed out at all rotated positions of the 'pedals P--P andunder all conditions of load resistance up to the maximum load for whichthe4 device isgdesignedyj t l Ingeneral', the operatorunder low andmedium load conditions can remain seated on theseat H of the device,-rotating thel pedals P--LRl 4by mus-l cular power only. At higher loadconditions'than this it may be necessary for the operatortoapplyhisfull'weight alternately onto the pedals lh-P to rotate the same, inlwhich case the energy developedinfthe high speed fly-wheels'F-F may berelied on to carry the pedals P--P' passed the dead .spots at positionsjl2'l and A6 respectively (curveFig. V5). ,A y I ,Itis believed apparentfrom the above disclos ure that many modifications and departures may bemade in the above described specific embodiment of the invention withoutessential departure therefrom or from the generic scope of the presentinvention and all such departures and improvements are contemplated asmay fall within the scope of the following claims.

Y 1... A'pedal actuated tractor comprising a frame having horizontal-side bars, a driven shaft rotatably mounted across rear portions ofsaid side bars with end portionsprojecting outwardly therefrom, Wheelshaving hubs rotatable-,about end portions of said shaft and eachprovidedwith an abutment projecting from its inner end, collars aboutsaid shaft inwardly of the wheels each having an abutment projectingtoward the companion wheel in position for engaging the abutmentithereof and turning the wheel 'with the shaft, a drive shaft rotatablymounted across forward portions of the side bars, arms at ends of saiddrive shaft extending radially therefrom in opposite directions andcarrying pedals at their outer ends, an idler shaft rotatably Y mountedacross said side bars lbetween the drive4 shaft and the driven shaft,flywheels carried by said idler shaft outwardly of the side bars, alarge sprocket wheel mounted upon said driven shaft between the sidebars, a small sprocket wheel mounted upon said drive shaft between theside bars, a sprocket chain trained about the sprocket wheels, asprocket wheel mounted upon the Vdrive shaft, a small sprocket wheelmounted upon saidV idler shaft, and a sprocket chain' trained about thelast mentioned sprocket wheels.

2. A pedal actuated tractor comprising a horizontal frame, a drivenshaft rotatably mounted across said frame with end portions projectingfrom opposite sides thereof, wheels loose upon the end portions of saidshaft, companion lost motion members carried by said shaft and thewheels for turning the wheels with the shaft, a drive shaft rotatablymounted cross said frame forwardly of said driven shaft, arms for saiddriven shaft carrying pedals, an idler shaft rotatably mounted acrosssaid frame between and in spaced relation to the drive shaft and thedriven shaft, ywheels mounted upon ends of said idler shaft, a largesprocket wheel mounted upon said driven shaft. small sprocket wheelsmounted upon the drive shaft and the idler shaft, a sprocket chaintrained about the small sprocket wheel on the drive `shaft and the largesprocket wheel on the' driven shaft, a large sprocket wheel on the driveshaft of less size than the large sprocket Wheel on the driven shaft,and a sprocket chain trained about the small sprocket wheel on the idlershaft and the large sprocket Wheel on the drive shaft.

ALEXANDRE LESAUNIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED ASTATES PATENTS NumberVV Name Date' Si `841,239 Fouts Jan.15,1907` 1,351,782 Mitchell Sept. 1,Y e FOREIGN vPATENTS Number CountryllDate 441,310 lFrance V t May 23, Y19,12

